JPH07294670A - Analog electronic timepiece, and charging method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an analog electronic timepiece, which can perform an accurate analog display. CONSTITUTION:Kinetic energy caused by user's action is converted into the electric energy. The output voltage for charging is outputted from a generating coil 22, and a secondary battery 40 is charged. A motor driving pulse if outputted from a timepiece circuit 70 by using the charging energy of the secondary battery 40, and a hand operating motor is rotated and driven in this analog electronic timepiece. When the voltage of the secondary battery 40 reaches a specified voltage, a bypass circuit for the secondary battery 40 is formed by using a limiter circuit 50, and the overcharge is prevented. A forced cut-off circuit 56 forcibly cuts off the bypass circuit during the output of the motor driving pulses.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an analog electronic timepiece, and more particularly to an analog electronic timepiece which uses kinetic energy generated by the operation of a user to generate electric power to charge a secondary power source.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional electronic timepiece, electricity serving as an energy source for driving the timepiece is supplied from a battery. However, batteries need to be replaced when they run out of energy. Therefore, an electronic wristwatch equipped with an automatic winding power generation mechanism that generates electric energy necessary for driving a timepiece by natural movement of a user's arm is being developed. This type of electronic timepiece does not require troublesome battery replacement, and does not generate waste such as used batteries, so it is drawing attention from the viewpoint of resource saving and environmental protection.

This electronic timepiece has a power generation mechanism inside, converts kinetic energy associated with the operation of the user into electric energy, and outputs a charging voltage from the power generation coil. The charging voltage is used to charge the secondary power supply, and this charging energy is used as the power supply for the timepiece circuit.

[0004]

When analog display is performed using the electronic timepiece having this structure, the hand movement motor for moving the analog display hand is arranged in the same timepiece case as the generator. For this reason, there is a problem that malfunction of the hand movement motor occurs due to the magnetic flux generated in the generator coil of the generator.

That is, in a wristwatch or the like, in order to efficiently mount components in a narrow watch case, the generator and the hand movement motor are often arranged adjacent to each other. Therefore, when a relatively large current flows through the generator coil, a part of the generated magnetic flux becomes a leakage magnetic flux, which adversely affects the hand movement motor,
This may cause a malfunction of the hand movement rotor.

This problem remarkably appears when a bypass circuit is formed between the generator coil and the secondary power source in order to prevent overcharge of the secondary power source. That is, when the voltage of the secondary power source exceeds a certain reference level, both ends of the power generating coil are short-circuited by a limiter or the like to stop the charging of the secondary power source. At this time, a large short circuit current flows through the generator coil. When a drive pulse is applied to the drive coil of the hand movement motor in this state,
Leakage magnetic flux from the generator causes malfunction of the motor for hand movement, and accurate time display cannot be performed.

In particular, an analog electronic timepiece using a crystal oscillator or the like requires extremely high precision, and therefore, if the above-mentioned malfunction occurs, the commercial value of the quartz electronic timepiece is significantly reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and an object thereof is to prevent a malfunction of the hand movement motor during the overcharge prevention operation of the secondary power source and perform an accurate analog display. (EN) Provided is an analog electronic timepiece and a charging method thereof.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention of claim 1 converts the kinetic energy associated with the motion of the user into electric energy, and outputs the electric energy from the power generation coil as charging electric energy. And a secondary power source that is charged by the charging electrical energy, and a bypass circuit for the charging electrical energy to the secondary power source when the voltage of the secondary power source reaches a predetermined voltage. Overcharge prevention means for preventing charging, a clock circuit that operates by using the charging energy of the secondary power supply and outputs a motor drive pulse, and a motor coil for energizing the drive coil to move the hands. During the motor drive pulse output of the hand movement motor that rotates the rotor and the clock circuit, the bypass current flowing through the bypass circuit is forcibly limited. A current limiting means that, characterized in that it comprises a.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the current limiting means is forcibly shutting off the bypass circuit of the overcharge preventing means while the motor drive pulse of the timepiece circuit is being output. It is characterized by being formed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first and second aspects, the power generation means is rotatably attached.
A rotary weight that converts kinetic energy generated by a user's motion into a rotary motion, and a power generation rotor that is rotationally driven by the rotary motion are included. The rotation of the power generation rotor causes the power generation coil to generate electrical energy for charging. And a generator that outputs the charging voltage of.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the second and third aspects, the overcharge preventing means and the second aspect of the invention are the power generating means, which are rotatably attached to the user. It includes a rotary weight that converts kinetic energy generated by operation into rotary motion, a speed-up wheel train that speeds up the rotary motion of the rotary weight, and a power-generation rotor that is rotationally driven by the increased rotary motion. , A generator for outputting a charging voltage as charging electric energy from the generator coil by the rotation of the generator rotor and a short circuit of the secondary power source are turned on,
It is characterized in that it includes switch means for turning off, and the forced cutoff means is formed to detect the output timing of the motor drive pulse and forcibly turn off the switch means during the output of the motor drive pulse.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the second to fourth aspects, the forced shutoff means detects an overcharge prevention operation of the secondary power source of the overcharge prevention means, and during the overcharge prevention operation. The bypass circuit of the overcharge prevention unit is forcibly shut off before the output of the motor drive pulse, and the forced shutoff of the bypass circuit is released after the output of the motor drive pulse is completed.

The invention of claim 6 is characterized in that it is formed as a wristwatch according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in a method of charging a secondary power source which is a drive power source of a timepiece circuit for outputting a motor drive pulse to a drive coil of a hand movement motor, the kinetic energy associated with a user's operation is electrically charged. A step of converting the energy into energy and outputting charging electric energy from the power generation coil to charge the secondary power supply; and a bypass circuit of the charging electric energy to the secondary power supply when the voltage of the secondary power supply reaches a predetermined voltage. And a step of preventing overcharge of the secondary power source, and a step of forcibly limiting the bypass current flowing through the bypass circuit of the overcharge prevention means during the motor drive pulse output of the timepiece circuit. Is characterized by.

[0016]

According to the analog electronic timepiece of the first aspect, the kinetic energy generated by the operation of the user is converted into electric energy by the power generation means and output from the power generation coil as charging electric energy. As a result, the secondary power source is charged.

Then, the clock circuit operates by using the charging energy of the secondary power source, and outputs a driving pulse. By energizing the drive coil with this drive pulse, the hand movement rotor of the hand movement motor is rotationally driven, and the time is displayed in analog.

By the way, when the secondary power source is charged by the power generation means to reach a predetermined voltage level, the overcharge prevention means is
A secondary power supply bypass circuit is formed. As a result, the charging energy output from the power generation coil of the power generation means is 2
It passes through the bypass circuit without charging the next power source.

At this time, a large current flows through the generator coil, and a large magnetic flux is generated. A part of this magnetic flux becomes a leakage magnetic flux, which interlocks with the hand movement motor and causes a malfunction.

In the present invention, the current limiting means is used to forcibly limit the bypass current flowing through the bypass circuit during the motor drive pulse output of the timepiece circuit.
As a result, the influence of the magnetic flux from the power generating coil on the hand movement motor can be significantly reduced during the output of the motor drive pulse. Therefore, the motor for hand movement operates reliably by energization of the motor drive pulse, and the time is accurately displayed in analog.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an analog electronic timepiece capable of preventing an erroneous operation of the hand movement motor during the overcharge preventing operation of the secondary power source and performing an accurate analog display.

The bypass current may be limited so that the current value becomes small, or the current may be forcibly cut off as in the second aspect of the invention.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the current limiting means is formed as a forced cutoff means, and the bypass circuit of the overcharge prevention means is forcibly cut off while the motor drive pulse of the timepiece circuit is being output. As a result, it is possible to significantly reduce the adverse effect of the magnetic flux received from the generator coil on the hand movement motor during the output of the motor drive pulse, and it is possible to more accurately display the time in analog form.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the kinetic energy generated by the operation of the user is converted into a rotary motion by the rotary weight, and the rotor of the generator is driven to rotate. For this reason, it is possible to favorably output the charging electric energy from the power generation coil of the power generator.

According to the invention of claim 4, the overcharge preventing means is formed by using a switch means for turning on / off the bypass circuit of the secondary power source, and the switch means is formed by using the forced cutoff means. It is on / off controlled. As a result, the circuit configuration that prevents the above-mentioned overcharge and also prevents the malfunction of the hand movement motor during the overcharge prevention operation,
Can be simple.

Further, according to the invention of claim 5, during the overcharge prevention operation, the bypass circuit of the overcharge prevention means is forcibly cut off before the output of the motor drive pulse, and the bypass circuit of the bypass circuit is output after the output of the motor drive pulse. It is configured to release the forced shutoff. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prevent the malfunction of the hand movement motor during the overcharge prevention operation of the secondary power supply.

Further, according to the invention of claim 6, it is possible to obtain an analog electronic wrist watch having a self-winding charging function.

Further, according to the invention of claim 7, there is provided a method of charging an analog electronic timepiece, wherein the secondary power source of the analog electronic timepiece is charged without causing a malfunction of the hand movement motor during the charge prevention operation. Obtainable.

[0029]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the case where the present invention is applied to an analog display type electronic wrist watch will be described in detail as an example.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of the power generation means 10 used in the electronic timepiece of the embodiment. This charging means 10
Is a semi-circular rotary weight 12 rotatably attached to a main plate in a watch case, a wheel train mechanism 14 that accelerates the rotation of the rotary weight 12, and the power train rotor 1 by the wheel train mechanism 14.
8 includes a generator 16 driven to rotate.

When the user wears the electronic timepiece and moves the arm, the rotary weight 12 rotates, and the kinetic energy at that time becomes rotational motion in the direction of the arrow in the figure. The rotation of the rotary weight 12 is increased by about 100 times by the train wheel mechanism 14 and transmitted to the power generation rotor 18. Then, due to the high-speed rotation of the power generation rotor 18 configured by the N-pole and S-pole permanent magnets, the magnetic flux linked to the power-generation coil 22 via the power-generation stator 20 changes.

When the magnetic flux changes, an AC voltage is output from the generator coil 22 by electromagnetic induction, and this AC voltage is
It is rectified by the rectifying diode 30 shown in FIG. 1 and charges the capacitor 40 as a secondary battery. Then, the leveled electric energy is supplied from the capacitor 40, and the timepiece circuit 70 using the quartz 72 is driven.

The capacitor 40 constitutes a secondary power source together with the booster circuit 60 and the auxiliary capacitor 42. As described above, when the generator 16 is operated, the capacitor 40 is charged, but in the embodiment, when the capacitor voltage is low and does not reach the driveable voltage of the timepiece, the booster circuit 60 converts the capacitor voltage into a high voltage. The clock is then driven. The voltage-converted electric power is stored in the auxiliary capacitor 42. Therefore, the driving power source for the actual timepiece is the auxiliary capacitor 42.

Further, in order to prevent overcharging of the capacitor 40, a limiter circuit 50 which functions as an overcharge preventing means.
Is provided. The limiter circuit 50 is connected in parallel with the generator coil 22 and constitutes a bypass circuit for the capacitor charging circuit.

The limiter circuit 50 includes a switch element 52 for turning on / off a bypass circuit, and a capacitor 4
It is formed to detect that the charging voltage of 0 exceeds the reference value for overcharge detection and turn on the switch element 52.

As a result, the charging current 200 that has charged the capacitor 40 as shown in FIG.
As shown by 210 in the figure, the bypass circuit of the power generation coil 22 configured by using the limiter circuit 50 as shown in FIG.

Further, the clock circuit 70 includes an oscillation circuit 74 using a quartz 72 as an oscillating section, a frequency dividing circuit 76 for frequency-dividing a starting output of the oscillation circuit 74, and drive pulses having different polarities every 1 ms based on the frequency-divided output. And a drive circuit 78 for outputting the drive pulse of the drive coil 8 of the motor 80 for hand movement.
It is output to 2. As a result, the stepping motor 80, which functions as a motor for hand movement, is supplied with a drive pulse as shown in FIG. 5 to the drive coil 82 thereof every one second, and the rotor 86 shown in FIG. 2 is rotationally driven each time.

The rotational output of the rotor 86 is passed through the three-hand drive wheel train mechanism 90 shown in FIG.
The time is transmitted to the minute hand 106 and the hour hand 108, respectively, and the time is displayed in analog.

As described above, in the analog electronic timepiece adopting the automatic winding power generation mechanism, the generator 16 and the step motor 80 for hand movement are mounted in the timepiece case.
Particularly in today's high-density mounting type electronic timepieces, the generator 16 and the step motor 80 are often arranged adjacent to each other inside the timepiece case 2 as shown in FIG. Therefore, the magnetic flux generated by the generator 16 is generated by the step motor 80.
Adversely affect the operation of. This adverse effect becomes stronger as the magnetic flux generated from the generator 16 becomes larger.

In particular, the switch element 5 of the limiter circuit 50
When 2 is turned on and the overcharge prevention operation is being performed,
When the rotary weight 12 rotates and the power generation operation is performed, FIG.
As shown in, a short circuit current flows through the magneto coil 22. This increases the amount of magnetic flux generated from the generator 16 and causes a malfunction such as the rotor 86 not rotating despite the drive pulse being applied to the step motor 80.

In order to prevent such a malfunction, the electronic timepiece of the embodiment is provided with a forced cutoff circuit 56 as shown in FIG. 1, and the switch element 52 of the limiter circuit 50 is forcibly turned off during the drive pulse output. , Shut off the bypass circuit for overcharge prevention. As a result, the magnetic flux output from the generator coil 22 when the drive pulse is output can be greatly reduced, and the step motor 80 can be reliably driven to rotate.

FIG. 5 shows a concrete example of the forced shutoff operation of the embodiment. The forced cutoff circuit 56 is a limiter circuit 50.
Based on this state, the overcharge prevention operation of the capacitor 40 as the secondary battery is detected. Then, when the switch element 52 of the limiter circuit 52 is turned on at the timing of ta in FIG. 5 and the overcharge prevention operation is started, the output timing of the drive pulse is detected from the internal state of the drive circuit 78. Then, a control operation is performed in which the switch 52 is turned off prior to the output of the drive pulse and the switch circuit 52 is returned to the on state after the output of the drive pulse.

The drive pulse is detected based on the count value of the frequency division output that the drive circuit 78 outputs for the drive pulse. That is, the drive circuit 78 outputs a drive pulse every time the count value reaches a value corresponding to 1 second. Therefore, the forced shutoff circuit 5
0 indicates that the switch element 52 is forcibly turned off at the time tb about 30 ms before the output of the drive pulse from the count value of the drive circuit 78, and the switching element 52 is turned on again at the time tc about 30 ms after the end of the drive pulse output. Control to return to the ON state is performed.

In this way, by forcibly turning off the switching element 52 with a margin for the drive pulse, the malfunction of the step motor 80 during the overcharge prevention operation of the secondary battery can be more reliably prevented. .
When the limiter circuit 50 does not perform the above-mentioned overcharge prevention operation, the compulsory OFF control operation for the switching element 52 by the compulsory cutoff circuit 56 is not performed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the electronic timepiece of the above embodiment, the forced cutoff circuit 56 for forcedly cut off the bypass current is used as the current limiting means, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the bypass current is limited to a small value as necessary. A current limiting circuit or the like may be used.

Further, although the preceding embodiments have been described by taking the case where the present invention is applied to a wristwatch as an example, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to various portable timepieces other than this.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Utilizing the kinetic energy that accompanies the movement of the user, 2
In an analog electronic timepiece that charges the next power source,
There is an effect that it is possible to provide an analog electronic timepiece capable of preventing a malfunction of the hand movement motor during the overcharge prevention operation of the secondary power supply and displaying an accurate time and a charging method thereof.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an analog electronic timepiece according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a main part of a mechanical configuration of the electronic timepiece according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a positional relationship between a generator and a step motor housed in a wristwatch case.

FIG. 4A is a schematic explanatory diagram of a charging operation for a secondary battery, and FIG. 4B is a schematic explanatory diagram of an overcharge protection operation.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing the operation of the electronic timepiece according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 power generation means 12 rotary weight 14 wheel train mechanism 16 generator 22 generator coil 40 capacitor 50 limiter circuit 56 forced shutoff circuit 70 clock circuit 72 quartz 78 drive circuit 80 step motor 82 drive coil 104 second hand 106 minute hand 108 hour hand

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A power generation unit that converts kinetic energy associated with a user's operation into electric energy and outputs the electric energy from a power generation coil as charging electric energy; a secondary power source charged by the charging electric energy; When the voltage of the secondary power source reaches a predetermined voltage, an overcharge prevention unit that forms a bypass circuit of the charging electric energy for the secondary power source to prevent overcharge of the secondary power source, and a charging energy of the secondary power source A timepiece circuit that operates by using the above, and outputs a motor drive pulse, a hand movement motor that rotationally drives a rotor for hand movement by energizing the drive coil with the motor drive pulse, and a motor drive pulse output of the timepiece circuit And a current limiting unit for forcibly limiting a bypass current flowing through the bypass circuit. clock. 2. The current limiting unit according to claim 1, wherein the current limiting unit is formed as a forced cutoff unit that forcibly cuts off a bypass circuit of the overcharge prevention unit during a motor drive pulse output of the timepiece circuit. A featured analog electronic watch. 3. The rotating power generator according to claim 1, wherein the power generation unit is rotatably attached and converts a kinetic energy generated by a user's motion into a rotary motion, and the rotary motion. An analog electronic timepiece comprising: a power generation rotor that is rotationally driven; and a generator that outputs a charging voltage as charging electric energy from the power generation coil by rotation of the power generation rotor. 4. The overcharge prevention unit according to claim 2, wherein the overcharge prevention unit includes a switch unit that turns on and off a short circuit of the secondary power source, and the forced cutoff unit controls the motor drive pulse. An analog electronic timepiece characterized by being formed so as to detect output timing and forcibly turn off the switch means during motor drive pulse output. 5. The forced cutoff unit according to claim 2, wherein the forced cutoff unit detects an overcharge prevention operation of the secondary power source of the overcharge prevention unit, and the motor drive pulse is detected during the overcharge prevention operation. An analog electronic timepiece characterized in that the bypass circuit of the overcharge prevention means is forcibly cut off before the output, and the forced cutoff of the bypass circuit is released after the output of the motor drive pulse is completed. 6. An analog electronic timepiece according to claim 1, which is formed as a wristwatch. 7. A method of charging a secondary power source which is a drive power source of a clock circuit for outputting a motor drive pulse to a drive coil of a hand movement motor, wherein kinetic energy associated with a user's operation is converted into electric energy. Outputting a charging electric energy from a power generating coil to charge a secondary power supply; and forming a bypass circuit for the charging electric energy with respect to the secondary power supply when the voltage of the secondary power supply reaches a predetermined voltage. An analog circuit comprising: a step of preventing overcharge of a power supply; and a step of forcibly limiting a bypass current flowing through a bypass circuit of the overcharge prevention means during motor drive pulse output of the timepiece circuit. How to charge an electronic watch.